


they'll figure it out

by Donrex



Category: Hamilton - Miranda, Hamilton - Miranda (Broadway Cast) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Asexual Character, Childhood Friends, Confessions, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nonbinary Character, Other, Theres a lot going on, except from that pure fluff, i mean..., it got a few angst centered chapters, lots of those, not sure but probably crack?, ok not crack but prepare for memes, theyre all either queer or trans or both, youre in my world now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-02
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-01-28 14:02:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12608240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Donrex/pseuds/Donrex
Summary: Thomas Jefferson is very in love with James Madison. It was a nightmare, honestly. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. He could stare at his mouth forever, and that cute thing he does with his nose when he gets a cold or when he lies or when he's mad is driving Thomas crazy. His voice was really nice, too.well... fuck.*college au because i wanted in on that party*





	1. thomas is so gay. laf likes boys as well.

**Author's Note:**

> first chapter for thomas, bc he has the most feelings and jeffmads is my fave ship. i wish i knew what i was doing

Thomas Jefferson is very in love with James Madison. It was a nightmare, honestly. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. He could stare at his mouth forever, and that cute thing he does with his nose when he gets a cold or when he lies or when he's mad is driving Thomas crazy. His voice was really nice, too. Thomas sighed out loud. 

"Jefferson? You're not listening aren’t you? You would have tried to shut me up ages ago if you were listening" said Alexander Hamilton, who was walking with him from their previous class to the current one.

"I'm sorry, Hamilton, can we both automatically assume that I'm disagreeing with you right now?"

Alex didn’t look convinced. "What could you be thinking about that is more important than the economy? How can you think of anything else when we literally just came out of that class?"

You'd be surprised, thought Thomas, but answered "ah, see? I am disagreeing with you!" instead. Alex looked at him for a few more seconds, trying to determine whether there was something more to Thomas troubled mind, but he probably decided against it, because instead of trying to make Thomas spill up he shrugged and pulled up his phone from his pocket. 

Thomas didn’t develop the conversation any further, preferring instead to come back to his previous train of thought. 

James is also very small. He has to look up to Thomas all the time. It's adorable. And Thomas's chin fitted right on top of James's head, and oh! When James was sleepy his voice gets even deeper and he would murmur stuff so Thomas needs to get closer to hear him and he gets a chance to catch some of James's smell… 

"See? He didn’t comment even once when I talked about what we learned in economy, which is shit, by the way, and he didn’t even notice you got here. Somethings up." Alex said. Thomas looked up in confusion. 

"Are you talking about me in third- Lafayette?" because Lafayette was walking right next to Alex, even though Thomas didn’t remember them joining.

"What's with the love-sick look, mon ami?" They raised their eyebrow at him. The tips of his ears felt hot and he was glad his hair was hiding them. 

"Well, if you have to know, Burr recommended me a new book and I'm hooked on it since he gave it to me. Can't think of anything else." Thomas lied. 

Well, burr did give him a new book, but James promised him they could read it together, which usually meant lying on James's bed in his dorm, Thomas with his back to the wall, a book in James's hands, two cups of tea in their hands, and James lying on Thomas's chest while reading him the story with his great voice.

They didn’t need to know that, though.

He pulled the book from his bag and waved it to them, proving his point.

"A book from Burr? Is it good?" Alex's eyes lit up as he tried taking the book from Thomas's hands. Thomas gave it to him so he could read the back. "Of course it is, I just said so. I'll ask him if you can lend it from me when I'm done."

Alex gave him the book back and he put it inside his bag just as the three of them stepped into class. The only thing he could think in that time was, oh thank god that sounded believable.

~~~

When he left class, he was greeted by a text from James. 

'Coming over today?' it said, which immediately spread a smile on his face. He set to the coffee shop as he replied,

'ofcours (;' followed by, 'Im gettin cofe frm tht place nxt 2 language buildin. Wnt smthing?' 

'why do you always spell like that?' came the reply. Thomas laughed fondly.

'jus got out frm 3 hours of stdying wat evn is grmmer'

'Maybe you should not have blown your schedule like that'

'…'

'I'll meet you at the café.'

"Thomas, you're doing it again." Says Lafayette, who was definitely not there a second ago. Thomas looks up from his phone. 

"How long are you walking with me?" he asks them. They smile. 

"It's not the book isn’t it?" they say, their eyes flicking from his face to his phone. Thomas wonders whether lying could do him any good at this point. The agonizing answer is no. 

"I mean… it does have something to do with the book…" he looks at their unconvinced face, and gives up. "Do you… know that feeling when someone is beautiful?" he can immediately see the effect on Lafayette's face. Yes, they do know the feeling. He goes on, "and you always knew they are beautiful, but then you keep on noticing really small things they do and it just… hit you? every time? And you think to yourself, wow, they are the most stunning human being ever and I want to wake up next to them every day and make them happy?" Lafayette nodded eagerly. Thomas went on. "And from that moment you're just getting more and more…" 

"Obsessed?" they finished, "thinking only about the thing you did together yesterday and the way they talk and how- how do you say…small? like- a sense- no... cute! Their fashion sense is?" they continue. Thomas nods.

They walk in silence for a while; neither wants to ask in fear of having to reveal themselves in return.

They turn to look at each other as they step into the coffee shop. "I'm supposed to meet James here-" Thomas said, exactly at the same time Lafayette says, 

"Hercules works here-" They both stop and look at each other. Lafayette points at the guy behind the register and smiles awkwardly. "I'll… go sit next to him." They say and leave him at the entrance. Thomas watches as Hercules turns to Lafayette with a smile and walks off to get them their coffee. He can see Lafayette's face light up as they stare at Hercules and can't help but smile to himself before going to hunt after an empty table.

James finds him there about a few minutes later, and offers to order for them both. Thomas stares as he walks to Hercules and gives their orders. He can see Lafayette looking at James, then at him. Thomas returns their look with a raised eyebrow. Lafayette breaks their eye contact to take out their phone. A second later, Thomas feels his own phone vibrating. He takes it out to find a message from Lafayette.

'I won't tell if u won't' it reads. He looks up to them before texting back,

'u got urself a deal'

"Who are you texting?" James asks as he puts a coffee in front of Thomas and sits opposite to him.

"No one important," Thomas smiles at him, then puts away the phone and starts rambling about whatever comes to his mind. James nods and sips from his cup occasionally, and Thomas has to remind himself what he was talking about every single time because his attention was focused on James's lips.

After paying they walked slowly towards James dorms. They could have read at Thomas's room too, theoretically, but Thomas was Hamilton's roommate, which means there will always a chance Hamilton is in their room with his little gang, probably getting drunk or having a sleepover or whatever they do when Thomas isn’t there. (There is always a chance they are in one of the others dorms or that Alex is in the dorm alone, writing something, but you can never know.) They invited Thomas and James more than once, but they prefer their own, quieter, rituals. And even though they are friends (???)(Thomas suggested frenemies. Alex said mixing words is an insult to the people who worked hard on inventing the English language), James's roommate is Aaron Burr, and when he isn’t studying in the library he is with his girlfriend, Theodosia, so they have far more privacy and far less noise.

"Do you want me to make us tea?" James asked as they walked into the dormitory.

"We just drank coffee, James." Answered Thomas. 

"Is that a yes or a no?" asked James, giving Thomas an unimpressed look. 

"…yeah… I like your tea" Thomas said quietly and James smiled, throwing him the keys and turning towards the kitchen at the end of the hall. Thomas walked to James room, which was at the same floor as his, but farther into the corridor and after the left turn. 

He left the door open for James and got his book out of his bag, then put his bag in the corner. Waiting, he walked to James's bed and sat on it, putting the book on the desk next to it. Then he took off his shoes, and his jacket, and laid face first into James's pillow, which smelled really nice and made Thomas's whole body to relax.

"Help me with the tea" said James from somewhere in the room, and Thomas raised his head from the pillow to find a hot cup of tea shoved in his face. He took it as James went to close the door with his newly freed hand, then joined Thomas on the bed, telling him to "Scoot over a little" so they end up with Thomas comfortable against the wall with his tea and James fitting between his legs, taking the book from the desk and a sipping from his own tea.

"I saw Aaron reading that book a while ago. He said it made him think of us. As in, all of us." James said, examining the cover of the book. 

Thomas nodded, his chin scrapping James's hair. He took a sip from his tea, and then said, "Alright, you can start." 

This time James's hair scraped Thomas's chin as he nodded, then started, "chapter 1…"


	2. the bet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> its lams turn to be lovey and disgusting

"john Laurens, I think I'm in love with you." Alex stared into his eyes, then closed them and shakes his head. "No. that’s dumb. Very cliché. We're not doing that." He looks back to his reflection, his hand clenched at both sides of the sink. 

He took his time trying to read john out. He looked at him from afar, marked patterns, asked all of his friends, and got to the conclusion he must ask john out for a date. John liked him. He knew he did. Did Alex like him back? Ask the million over millions of love letters saved in his drafts and in notebooks and on napkins.

Words were his element. This is what he is good at. If he won't find the perfect words for john… what other way is there even for him to do this? It has to be words. It has to be the right words. "Laurens… john, we have been friends for so long… ugh." He's supposed to come to Alex's room in any second, because, well, Alex invited him. 

It might have been a bad idea.

"Maybe just a simple, go out with me? No, he deserves more than that, he deserve the world." Alex finally let go of the sink and walks to his bed, pulling out his notebooks and opening them all on his poems and letters, trying to find the perfect words. Then he takes one of the notebooks and opens it on a new page, trying to write something new and better then all of the old ones. 

He walks around the room, trying to find the right words, when there is a knock on the door. "Alex? Can I come in?" john's voice comes from the other side. 

"Yeah, sure," Alex says, distracted, only after a second realizing the condition of his room, with his notebooks all over and wide open, but it's too late. 

Alex's heart kicks into an over-drive as john walks in wearing a sweater that probably started off as Alex's before they started swapping cloths for who-knows-what-reason, taking in the scene and looking more and more confused by the minute.

"Umm… did you call me to help you clean out?" Asked john, bending down to pick up an inked napkin.

"NO! Don’t touch that!" Alex snatches the napkin and clenching it before throwing it away. "I'm sorry, John, I just need to clean up all this… study material."

John looked skeptic, but went to sit on the bed as Alex picked everything up. 

"Hey! This one says for john! Is it for me?" john said just when Alex was sure he was done, holding a notebook left on the bed. "Not for you!" Alex says, boarding hysterical. 

This was a very bad idea.

"How many other John Laurens do you know?" John frowned. 

"Okay, it is addressed to you, but you're not supposed to read it!" Alex said, trying to take it away. 

John wouldn’t let go, though. "Come on, Alex, why would you write me something if I can't read it?" he asks, and Alex makes the mistake of looking him straight in the eyes. John had a really deep, capitating eyes. Alex feels himself drawn to them, drowning in them. He gives up. 

 

"Laurens, I like you a lot." He says, before his eyes widen and he stumbles back. "It wasn’t supposed to come out like that." He says, his hands over his mouth. John looks confused as he sets the notebook aside. "I… like you too? Alex, we're best friends. Of course you like me." 

Alex looks at him for a moment, taking in john's blank expression, and he hopes he didn’t made a mistake when he thought john liked him back. He worries his lip as he takes a step back to john and putting his hand in the air between them. John looks at it for a moment before putting his own hand against it. Alex intertwines their fingers together. 

"I like you more than a friend," Alex says. John looks like he is about to cry. 

"Because we are best friends?" he asks, his voice strangled with hope as he stares at their hands.

"More than that." Alex whispers, staring at john. John looks back at him.

"Am I dreaming?" he asks. Alex shakes his head. John takes Alex's other hand and puts it against his heart, which is beating very loudly, very fast. 

"Thank god." He whispers. Alex looks from his hand to john's face. "I couldn’t stand waking up from one of those again," he said, smiling. Alex smiled back, before they both let out a relieved laugh.

John laid his forehead against Alex's and suddenly, there was silence. Alex could still feel john's heartbeat through his sweater.

"I would like to kiss you," said john, and Alex could feel his heart skip a beat.

They were millimeters apart, and then they weren't.

~~~

When Thomas walks back to his room and find the door unlocked, he had something to say about it.

Sadly, though, he never got the opportunity to comment about it, since as he walks into the room the speech about the reason why we have goddamn keys dies in his throat as he realizes there is someone else down his roommate's throat. 

He did not expect to walk in on his roommate and his roommate's best friend making out on his roommate's bed. Wow. They didn’t even seem to notice him.

He closes the door behind him and walks back to James's room. James is very surprised to see Thomas back, which is understandable, considering he just left. 

"Did you forget something?" He asks Thomas as he walks into the room and slams the door behind him. Thomas shudders. 

"No, but there is something I would very like to forget."

James looks at his face for a moment, and then moves aside so they could both fit on the bed. He watches Thomas silently as he pulls out his phone. 

"I need to check something." He tells James before opening his chat with Lafayette.

'do u know anythng abt Alex and johns feelings?' he asks. The answer comes back almost immediately. 

'They're madly in love. Very oblivious. None plans on ever acting about it' 

followed by a 

'Why??'

'bc they r swallowing eachothers tongues in my room as we speak. And here I thought I was safe from this kind of thng bc we r talkin abt Alex??'  
'WHAT??? NO WAY!' but Thomas already put his phone away.

"Alex and john are dating" he tells James. 

James looks very surprised. "Is that what you wanted check?" he asks, turning his whole body towards Thomas. 

"No. well, yes, but that’s not how I figured it out." Thomas mirrors James, so now they both sit facing each other. Their knees are touching. 

"Then how do you know?" James asks.

"Well because they are swapping spit in my room right now." Thomas said in a disgusted look. James has one to match. 

"How long do you think it's been going on?" James asks, and Thomas snorts. 

"Considering Lafayette's response, I'd say an hour. They know everything about their best friends. I'm willing to bet Lafayette would know all the juicy gossip till tomorrow morning and they won't even ask for it. Their friends tell them everything."

"I'll take that bet. I'm saying they would know everything by tomorrow morning, but they were the one asking for details. They're probably spamming them with messages right as we speak." James retorts, offering his hand for a shake. Thomas takes his hand and almost misses James as he asks, "What will you do for me when I win?" 

Thomas is too busy thinking about how nice James's skin is to think of anything else so he says, "I imagine you could think of something." before asking, "And if I win?" with a sly smirk. 

"Well, I guess we could just make something up as we go," says James. Thomas nods. They both look at their hands, which are still touching. None of them makes a move to take his hand back. James choughs and they both pull back, as if they were burned. 

After the coughing fit ended, James asks, "So do you want to stay here? I'm guessing you don’t want to go back to your room." 

Thomas nod, "you know me so well, James." He wipes an imaginary tear. James rolls his eyes as he gets of the bed and turns off the lights, while Thomas lies down and covers himself with the blanket. A second later James joins him under the blanket, and Thomas feels blessed.

Before he falls asleep, he tells himself he should probably thank Alex for this, then immediately thinks against it.


	3. boyfriend sweater. (b-best friend sweater?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> intrudocing: the Schuyler sisters ft. a very newly gay couple (also eliza cant get her shit together.)

The morning after greets Thomas and James as they wake up for their shared class. Aaron burr wakes up in his own bed and looks at them blearily as they ran around the room looking for their stuff.

"Thomas," He says. "Didn’t notice you here yesterday."

Thomas waves awkwardly, holding his jacket and wondering if he should go change in his own room. Alex and john share this class with him, but just in case he might… come in at the wrong time, he decides against it.

"d'you got something of mine? Or something I could wear?" he asks no one in particular. Burr shakes his head and turns around to face the wall, covering his head with his blanket and going back to sleep.

"uhhh, I think…" James opens a drawer, his shirt already off. Thomas stares adoringly at his lamps of soft fat. James turns around with a big sweater in his hand and Thomas has to look somewhere else.

"I think this should cover you, but you're very tall, so just try it off. You'll have to lose the jacket, probably. It’s very warm." He hands it to Thomas, and Thomas is very grateful for the distraction. He puts it on, and finds that it's just enough. What James lacks in height covers with his weight, which made him buy a bigger size. It fits just right.

"Thanks Jamie." Thomas says as he looks at himself in the mirror. The sweater smells like James's laundry soap, and Thomas isn’t going to say it out loud, but he hopes James would never ask it back.

"…sure…" James says behind him, a little chocked up. He waves Thomas away when he asks if everything is okay, though.

When they are ready, they tell Aaron goodbye and leave the dorm.

To no one's surprise, they find Lafayette in the hall, and to their side Alex and john, holding hands and talking Lafayette's ears off.

"Make sure to let me know next time you decide having a steamy make out in our room." Thomas greets Alex and keeps walking, knowing everyone else would follow.

"It wasn’t planed" replied Alex, blushing.

"Did you ask for details or did they spill everything before you had the chance?" James asks Lafayette.

"Right into business, aren't we, Jamie?" smirks Thomas, but he, too, looks at Lafayette expectedly.

"Oh, well, I actually sent them like, thousands of messages all night yesterday," said Lafayette. James gave Thomas a raised eyebrow.

"But we didn’t see it until after we met them this morning." Said john awkwardly. Thomas looked back at James with a winning grin.

"I think that’s a tie." He said.

James nodded, "do you think the favors would cancel each other or…?"

"It's only fair if we can keep them."

The others looked from the side, confused, but said nothing as they walked into class and sat down.

"So when will we use those favors?" Asks Thomas right when the professor walks in. James is quiet when the professor starts talking, but eventually whispers,

"Let's just keep them to when we'll need them."

Thomas nods, and they both focus on the class.

~~~

"We heard you have a boyfriend," said angelica as she slammed her trey down in front of Alex in the cafeteria. Behind her were Eliza and Peggie, smiling as broad as two suns.

The Schuyler sisters always had an unexplained affection towards alexander Hamilton. Ever since they first met him, they absorbed him into their family. People had no doubt that if George Washington didn’t already take him under his wing and adopted him, the Schuylers would have done so.

Alex raised his hand, which was intertwined with johns. Angelica gave him a soft smile. "A great choice." She told him as both Peggie and Eliza sat at her sides. Peggie nodded. Eliza gave him a thumb up and a wink.

They were all about to start eating when Maria Reynolds walked into the cafeteria. Eliza squealed and hid her head on the table between her hands.

"You're roommates, Eliza. Why are you hiding from her, you see her every day." Peggie points out, taking a bite from her food. Eliza groaned.

"She's just… so pretty. So very pretty. Have you seen her eyeliner? I'm gay for that. I asked Hercules to spy on her in class for me. If she's here he should be too." Eliza said, looking at her longingly only to look away, blushing, when Maria looked back and waved to her with a smile.

"If we're lucky enough, Eliza might get her shit together and ask Maria out, then we could go on double dates!" Alex suggested, Eliza was about to say something when Hercules spotted them and sat down next to Eliza. Eliza looked at him expectedly.

"What?" He asked, confused.

She groaned again. "Did she say anything about me? Do you think she's even into girls?" she tried shaking him but barely moved him at all.

He looked at her, worried. "Eliza, she has a boyfriend." He told her gently. She gave him a hateful look and let go of his hand.

"He's a jerk. It's none of my business to tell her who she should date, but I'm pretty sure he's boarding abusive. If she started seeing someone else he would probably ask money for her service. I want to punch him soooo hardddd." She said, her hands clenching into fists. The rest of them looked back at Maria, worried, as she greeted another guy who pulled her into his lap and held her there by her waist.

"Do you want me to help you punching him?" Asked angelica. Peggie nodded. Hercules tried looking tough by making sounds out of his knuckles, but nothing came out. Alex and john both wore a matching disgusted look on their faces.

"I wish she'd dump him already," sighed Eliza, playing with her food, "but I want to support her without it having something to do with my feelings, so I just…"

"I can try get someone to help her but… it’s a choice she has to make by herself… well," Said angelica, and then got up, leaving the rest of them wondering.  
"Did you know about her boyfriend all this time?" Asked Hercules. Eliza nodded, looking miserable.

"That’s not at all the info I wanted you to give me. I want to know if she said something about me, or… or! The small stuff she does? you know, the cute things she does!" She explains. Hercules looks doubtful.

"I can't notice this many things about someone," he says.

John laughs. "what's Lafayette's nervous tick?" He asks.

"Well sometimes they do that thing when they touch the tips of the opposites pointing finger and thumb and then switch between them but I don’t see what it has to do with- oh." He blushes and rubs the back of his neck. "I can't notice this many things about someone for you." He corrected. "I know this because… I mean… we know each other for a long time and sometimes some stuff… sticks, you know?" he tried, lamely. No one took the bite.

"Whatever flouts your boat, Herc." Said Alex, smirking.

Hercules messed with his food awkwardly for a while before looking between alexander and john. "Congrats, by the way. Laf texted me all night yesterday." He tells them, a soft smile on his lips.

Alex sticks his tongue out. "We aren't all cowards here. This goes to you, too, Eliza" he said.

John rolled his eyes. "We're going on a date today, actually." He says. Alex nods.

"Awesome to you. I swept shifts so I have one today," Hercules pouts. "How come I'm the only one with a job? Don’t you guys have student lawns?" he asks grumpily.

"Rich." Says both Eliza and Peggie, pointing at themselves.

"George Washington's kid." Alex says, smug.

"I really do need a job, actually." Says john, scrunching his nose.

"I can ask at the café," says Hercules.

"Great! I'll stop by before the date." He says, and then he lays his head on Alex's shoulder and the conversation drifts off.


	4. bush shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alex and john go on a date... theres a plot twist somewhere in there though...

"Aaron! You were here this morning, right? It wasn’t only me?" James barges into their room but stops to close the door behind him. 

Aaron looks up from his book, indifferent. "I was asleep. What happened this morning?" he asks, wondering whether this is going to be long and if he should set his book down.

"Thomas happened! Didn’t you hear him? He called me Jamie! Jamie! And he used it again afterwards!" James says, walking in circles and occasionally lifting his hands when he gets too worked up. 

Aaron raises an eyebrow. "And…?" 

"And?! He never used that nickname before! He never used any nicknames for me before! And there he is, saying Jamie, wearing my sweater. I thought I was having a stroke. What does that mean?!" he stops directly in front of Aaron. 

Aaron gives him a puzzled look and puts his book aside. He mentions the place on the bed next to him. James sits down. 

"Do you think I caught a new sickness? I think I'm sick." James says. Aaron opens and closes his mouth a few times. 

Eventually he says, "James?" James looks at him in expectation. "I think… would you say you like Thomas?" he asks. James nods immediately. "Do you like him the same way you like… me? Perhaps? Or any of the others?"

This time James takes his time before answering. "…no? But its normal, isn’t it? He's my best friend, and you're just… regular? Friends, so it's not the same. Right?" but it sounded wrong even to him. 

"I don’t know, Jamie. Maybe." Aaron says, but it isn’t as thrilling when he says it comparing to what his heart did when Thomas said it. 

James promises to himself he would figure it out eventually when a buzzing sound comes from his pocket. 

"It's him!" he announces, before getting sucked into the texts. Burr re-opens his book.

'meetin laf @ the cafe. U coming?' it says. James gives his phone a soft smile.

'Only if you ask with the correct grammar.' He replays

'come ON jamie' Thomas writes, but before James thinks of a replay he adds,  
'Would you like to join Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette and I for a cup of coffee?'

'You asked them how to spell all that didn’t you?'

'I wnt 2 see u try doin that alon'

'you're so extra'

'thnx'  
'Im trying'

'I'll be right there.'

"He called me Jamie again! Right now!" James tells burr as he gets up from the bed. Burr hums, devoted in his book. "I'm going out for coffee. Bye Aaron." James says, pocketing his phone and closing the door behind him.

~~~

"Did you think of any good uses for your favor?" asks Thomas the moment James sits down next to him.

"No, not yet." James answers, waving Lafayette awkwardly. Lafayette nods back with a smile before turning to look at the barista. James notices it’s the same one from the last time he was there with Thomas, so he looks at Thomas and asks quietly, "who is the barista Lafayette is staring at?" 

Thomas looks up hurriedly, as if James caught him off guard, before looking at Lafayette and from them to the barista. 

"Hercules Mulligan. He's the last part in Hamilton's shitsquad." Thomas whispers back, making James to snore, which makes Lafayette turn back to them. 

"What Did I miss?" they ask, a blush forming on their cheeks. 

"That’s my line." Thomas says teasingly. 

"Are you dating this barista?" James asks Lafayette, looking at Hercules, who is currently staring at Lafayette.

"what? No!" Lafayette says, panicking. 

James turns to them, frowning. "But you'd like to?" he asks them with confusion. They protest for a few seconds but then give in. 

"Yeah…" they say, "I guess I would." 

James glances at Thomas, who is looking at him, surprised, before returning to Lafayette. He picks his words carefully. 

"How do you know you like him more then you like… say, Thomas?" he gestures to Thomas next to him, "Or Hamilton and Laurens? You like them, too, right?" he asks. Both of them blink at him.

"Well… it's different? I see all of them all the time but I never want to… how do I say this… when you… oh come onnnn… se bécoter?" he looks at Thomas for help. 

"Smooch? Cuddle, I think is the word you're looking for," said Thomas after a bit of thinking.

"But in a lover kind of a way, not friend." Lafayette adds. "Sometimes we have movie night and all four of us sit on the same couch, and I feel completely different sitting next to Alex and john then Herc, you get it?" they ask. James nods slowly, thinking of his and Thomas's cuddles. He can't find anything to compare it to, though. 

"Will you ask him out?" he asks them. It was quiet, but now he has both Lafayette and Thomas's undeniable attention. 

"I can't do that. It could ruin everything." Lafayette said. Thomas nodded. 

"Hamilton did it," James points out, but before he could add anything else, john Laurens walked in, followed by the devil himself.

"mulligan!" john screams as he jumps onto one of the chairs next to the counter, making the whole café turn to look at him. Hamilton spots them in one of the seats and waves them, before saying something to john and walking over. 

"Laf!" he says as he sits down next to them. They fist bump. He gives a nod to James and Thomas. 

"hello, Alexander. Here for your daily dose?" Thomas asks, smirking. 

"I don't think I ever saw you actually eat real food, ever." Adds James.

Thomas snorts. "Oh, my sweet, dear, innocent Jamie. Hamilton doesn’t eat food. He lives on pure caffeine. When I'm not in the room he injects it right into his veins." Alex rolls his eyes, but they aren’t done. 

"Is it a vampire thing, Alex? It would explain the bags under your eyes," James says, which makes Thomas laugh. 

"Oh my, that would explain so much-" 

"I came here to have a good time and I am honestly feeling so attacked right now." Alex cuts them off. Lafayette is hiding a laugh. 

"Why are you here, mon ami?" the ask.

Alexander points to where john is, talking with Hercules and another worker. "John wants to work here. We stopped here for an interview before going to our date." 

"You're goiNG ON A DATE?" Lafayette asks, making the table next to them turn around and stare. Lafayette apologizes before asking again, "a date? Now? It's going to be great!" 

"You are aware this is not your date, right? You are not going to be there." Alex says, quirking an eyebrow. Lafayette waves him off. 

"Well Thomas, I see you finally gave up on your horrifying clothes and went for the most boring sweater in existence." Says alexander, making both James and Thomas look down to the sweater that Thomas is wearing. James's sweater.

"uhhh…" Thomas says, staring at his sweater. James looks away. 

The silence stretches, and Alex grins.

"I won this round, Jefferson. Don’t you forget it," Alex says, slitting his eyes and getting up. He walks to john and sits down next to him. John gives him a smile and turns back to Hercules and his co-worker. 

It takes a while, but eventually they all get up. John and Alex wave their table goodbye and Hercules takes off his apron and joins them. 

"My shift is done," he says as he sits down next to Lafayette, who has a suspicious smile on their face. They stare at john and Alex from the window as they walk away. 

"okay!" They say, getting up the moment they are sure Alex and john can't see them anymore. "Everyone, follow me!" 

"Uh, why?" asked James. Thomas and Hercules have the same expression. They know Lafayette better than James, and so didn’t need to ask.

"We are going to espion on their date, of course." Lafayette says, pulling Hercules to his feet and making a motion to Thomas, who sighed before getting up as well. 

"S pio?" asked James as both he and Thomas catch up with Laf and Herc. 

"Espion. They want to spy on them." Thomas provided. 

"Why would they want that?" James asked, but before Thomas could answer Lafayette said, 

"They went that way!" and started walking, which compelled the others to chase them down.

~~~

And that’s how James Madison ended up spending his afternoon behind a bush with his best friend, a person he barely ever spoke to, and a guy he never met before.

"It's like the start of a really bad joke." Said James grumpily. Lafayette shushed him. 

"They are holding hands." They reported. Thomas made a vomiting motion that Lafayette didn’t see. Hercules was lying on the grass and looking at the sky. He was active at the start, trying to please Lafayette by playing along, but as the time passed got less interested in the date and more in… well, anything else, really. 

Thomas and James were sitting back to back and James was trying very hard to not sneeze, which was almost impossible since they were in a freaking bush and James had more allergies then probably allowed in a human body. Lafayette got really mad after the last sneeze attack, though, and James found out they could be terrifying when they want to.  
"mon Dieu, they're hugging! It's happening! Now… kiss!" Lafayette whispered excitedly. 

"This is the worst thing I ever done in my life" James complained. He could feel Thomas's hair as he nodded in agreement. 

Hercules groaned. "Why are we even here, Laf? We all know they would tell you all about It." he said. Lafayette shushed him. 

"Would you like to watch a show live, or recorded, when everyone already know stuff you don’t and your… Attente…?" they turn to Thomas. 

"Expectations." Thomas says without missing a beat. 

"Expectations are too high?!"

Hercules sat up. "So what you're saying is we're your personal telenovela?" He asked, rising an eyebrow. 

"That’s exactly what I'm saying." They replied, not taking their eyes off of the couple. "Why won't they kiss already?" said Lafayette frustratingly. 

"First of all, we're in a public place, second of all, trust me, you do not want to see them kiss." Thomas says, disgusted. 

Lafayette said something in French. It was probably nasty, because Thomas gasped, glancing to James and Hercules before shooting something back. 

James gave Hercules an awkward smile. Hercules offered one of his own. James looked between Thomas and Lafayette before moving towards Hercules. 

"We didn’t officially meet." James says awkwardly. Hercules nods, offering his hand for a shake. 

"Hercules mulligan." He says with a smile. 

"James Madison. What are you majoring in?" James asks in curiosity. He doesn’t think he ever heard Hercules's name in class. 

Hercules smiles. "Art, mostly. Fashion. I don’t have classes with most of my friends." He replies, and James hums in acknowledgment. 

It must be then that Hercules noticed James is not very talkative, because he started on filling the awkwardness between them with random topics, and took over the conversation completely. All in all, James got the impression that Hercules Mulligan is the most enthusiastic human puppy he had ever met, and the more he listens, the more he realize why Lafayette likes him so much. He doesn’t tell that to Hercules, though, so they sit for a while, Hercules chatting off as they stare at Thomas and Lafayette whisper-yelling in French.   
"Never noticed before, but Jefferson and Laf are pretty similar. Feature wise, I mean," Says Hercules eventually. James glances at him before looking at the two again. 

"You're right!" he says in surprise. It's strange, really. Their fashion sense is completely different, (especially with Thomas in James's sweater,) and their hair isn’t exactly in the same shape or shade, but their facial features are strangely alike. 

James then started sneezing, which made them break off in surprise. After what seems like the millionth sneeze, (sneezing is just the worst. They leave your nose red and running and also hurt in the ribs sometimes.) James could finally calm down.

"Did you settle whatever you were talking about?" Hercules said, drawing their eyes from James. They looked at each other for a brief moment before nodding.  
"Great. Can we get out of here then?" asked James. 

Lafayette looked insulted. "No! The date isn’t over!" they say, not noticing the faces poking from the other side of the bush. 

The others did notice, though. 

"What are you doing in this bush?" asked john Laurens. They all turned to look at Lafayette.

"Oh! Hi, Laurens… Hamilton…" they got up and brushed their clothes. "A lovely day to go on a date… and hide behind bushes… isn’t it?"

"Laf, we are friends, but I will call the police on you." Alex said. Hercules gave Lafayette a small pat on the arm before he, James and Thomas turned around, and ran away. 

"Please don’t call the police. I'm too young to be arrested again!..." is all they managed to hear as the three of them got farther and farther away.


	5. down with douchebags

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tw for implied violence and abusive relationships. (sorry!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i cut out the actual relevant things bc i dont think im qualified to write about things like abusive relationships and stuff like this.

"Please, Theo, you're the only one I could think of." Begged Angelica.

It has been a few days now, and Theodosia was yet to crack.

"I don’t even know her, Angelica! I can't lecture someone I don’t know about their relationship!" she said, like she said hundreds of times the last days, but she sounded less and less convinced each time.

"Wouldn’t you like someone to drag you out of your relationship with your jerk ex-boyfriend? Someone to explain to you what you know now and had to understand by yourself?" Theodosia sighed. Angelica continued, "I don’t think Maria would do anything unless something or someone pushed her to do it. You had Aaron, but Eliza respects Maria too much for putting her in such a position where she needs to choose him or her." She took Theodosia's hands in hers. "Theo. You are the only one that can help her. Please." Angelica looked her in the eyes.

Theodosia looked away. "…fine." She murmured.

Angelica hugged her tightly. "You're the best, Theo! Come on."

She led her out of her room into the hallway, and towards Eliza's room.

"Good luck," angelica told Theodosia and knocked. Maria opened the door. She scanned them both for a second, and then turned around.

"Eliza, your sister and…" she turned back to Theodosia, "who are you?"

Theodosia coughed and stepped forward. "I'm Theodosia. I'm actually not here for Eliza. I'm here for you," she said, trying to look confident. Maria stared at her, her eyebrows raised. Eliza poked her head from the back of the room.

"Theo? Angelica? Are you here for- oh!" she jumped up and ran for the door. "Maria, you should go talk with Theo while Angelica and I stay here. Yeah?" she asked, excited. Maria looked at all of them, and then nodded, slowly.

"Sure…?" she said, stepping out and angelica stepping in. Theodosia led her back to her own room.

"Let's hope she can get through to her," angelica says as she closes the door behind her. Eliza nods.

~~~

A few hours later, angelica gets a text.

'U should probably get out of their room. Maria just stormed out. I don’t know if what I said helped or made everything worse.'

"I should go. I hope Maria is alright." Said angelica, getting up from the bed where she and Eliza where sitting, and waved Eliza goodbye. Eliza stayed on the bed as angelica left the room.  
She must have fallen asleep, because a bang on the door scared her awake.

The watch in her phone tells her it's been about an hour since angelica left. The person outside knocks again.

Eliza gets up and opens the door, reveling Maria, her red dress dirty, rubbing her face. "Maria? Dear god, are you okay? Theo said you left an hour ago where have you been?" she lets her in.  
Maria stops rubbing her cheek, and looks at Eliza with an empty look.

"Maria, what happened to your cheek? Is that blood on your dress?" but Maria ignores her. Eliza drags her to her bed.

"I finished it off. We're done. I broke up with him." She said, looking at her hands as she opens and closes them, as if she's surprised she still has control over them. She's not smiling.

"Did he… did he hit you? Maria, are you okay? Should I call someone?" Eliza panics, but Maria looks up to her.

"I hit him back." She says quietly, like she can't believe it herself. She looks down to her dress. "That's his blood." She points to a dark spot on her already red dress, "I cut him with my rings." She elaborates. She isn’t crying. She isn’t smiling.

"Maria? How do you… feel?" Eliza asked her. Maria looks to the ceiling, her hands dropping to her sides.

"I don't." she whispers.

"Can you… can you and all your friends… be around me? Until I'm sure he won't come anywhere near me?" she asks after a while, but she won't look down.

"Of course," Eliza whispers back, not sure if grabbing her hand would be the right thing to do in that situation.

"I'll go grab some ice… for your cheek. Do you want to stay here or come with me?" Eliza asks, looking between the door and Maria.

Maria grabs her hand. "My cheek is okay. Stay with me." She says, not looking Eliza in the eyes. Eliza nods and gets up to lock the door and turn off the lights. Then she comes back and lies down next to Maria. Maria covers herself with a blanket and goes to sleep. Eliza follows her lead.

~~~

"She's… well. She wants to hang out with us. I think she didn’t socialize when this monster was breathing down her neck. Hercules should bring her to sit with us in any minute." she tells everyone by the tree. They are all outside, enjoying a shared free hour. The whole gang is there, and she's been filling them up about everything in the last 10 minutes.

Theodosia looks exhausted. "I was so scared I made everything worse." She said, laying her hear on Aaron's shoulder. He patted her hair lovingly.

"I could barely sleep yesterday." Angelica nodded in confirmation.

"Eliza," Theo looked up to her. "It's only the beginning. She needs to heal. Let her feel safe." She says. Eliza nods.

Lafayette, Thomas and James needs time to take it all in.

"I didn’t have a clue" James says. The other two nods.

"She really punched him in the face?" asks Alex, amazed. Eliza nods.

"That's what she told me. She had blood on her cloths from his face," she crocked her nose at this.

"That’s hardcore." Says John.

That’s when Maria and Hercules got there.

"Herc!" called Lafayette happily, making space next to them. Hercules gave them a smile and continued his and Maria's conversation, but it cut off when Maria saw Theodosia.

"Theodosia." She said with a quiet voice, looking at where her head was laid on Aaron's shoulder. "Can I…?" she pointed with her chin to Theodosia's other side. Theodosia nodded.

"Well as I was saying, it depends on the fabric. But I think we can get the blood off that dress," Hercules says after he is sited down by Lafayette's side. Maria nods, unconvinced. "We could just go buy a new one? Does anyone else need new cloths? We can have a shopping trip." He offers, trying to cheer her up.

Burr opens his mouth only to close it down again. Lafayette nods and Eliza lifts her hand up. "I need to go buy fabrics anyway." Hercules concludes, and Maria nods.

"It's settled, then." Hercules beams. Lafayette stares. Maria looks at both of them intensely.

"Theodosia?" she says eventually, everyone else breaking into private conversations.

"yeah?" Theodosia answers.

Maria looks at Eliza as she says "thank you," quietly. Theodosia nods. "Do you think…" she cuts herself and starts over, "how long did it take you to get over it?" she asks, both turning to look at Aaron, who gave Maria a shy smile.

"I was pushed into a corner. I don’t think I'm over it yet. But…" she searches for Aaron's hand, and he's happy to deliver, "I'm so happy to have Aaron in my life" she tells Maria with a soft smile. Maria looks away to Eliza again. Theodosia's eyes follow hers. "Don’t jump into a new relationship if you aren’t ready, but having someone by your side would make things easier." She concludes. Maria doesn’t answer.

She doesn’t participate in any of the other conversations that day. She's just… watching. Analyzing. No one pushes her.

When their break ends, Aaron grabs Hercules and pulls him aside.

"Aaron? What's up?" Hercules asks, confused. Theodosia gives Aaron a kiss on the cheek before waving and going to her class.

"I wanted… I wanted to ask whether you…" Aaron drifts off, looking at everyone else as they leave. "You said you're going to buy fabrics and I wondered if you could… make me a new binder. My current one if starting to wear off… I'll show you the kind of fabric and size and everything… I can even pay you if it's too much-"

"dude! No! It's cool. I make them for Hamilton all the time. I can come to your dorm today and you can show me the old one. I could probably fix it, if not, I'll make you another!" Hercules gave him a pat on the back and started walking to his next class.

"Do you want money or… ?" burr asked, trying to catch up to Hercules. It was the opposite direction from his own class, though, so he stopped.

"Don’t worry about money! We're friends!" Hercules answered, getting farther and farther away.

Aaron, left alone and unsure, found himself asking, "We are?" before smiling off to no one in particular all the way to class.


	6. movie date?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> floff!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why did it take me years to post this? boi do i got excuses for days. lets just say im very very sorry and already have the next few chapters written down. sorry!!

"Do you want to go to a movie with me and john?" asks Alex out of nowhere, poking his head up from his laptop. Thomas looks up to his from his homework, confused. 

"You want me to join your date?" he asks, trying to figure out when did alexander Hamilton lost his mind. 

"Yes? You can grab James, too." Alex says, sounding way too casual. 

"What about Lafayette and Hercules? Why not them?" Thomas asked, suspicious. 

"They can come too," He waved him off. 

"That’s not what I meant. Why not only them?" Thomas closes his work and turns completely towards Alex.

"What? We're friends, aren’t we? We can go on group movie nights?" Alex says defensively. 

Very Suspicious. 

"Usually I'll say yes, but you really make it sound like you planned something out." 

"I didn't." 

"Swear it. I don’t need you trying to solve stuff that doesn’t need solving in my life. Got it?" 

"I swear." Alex gave him the scout salute. 

"Yeah yeah, text your friends while I call James," he tells him, getting up and leaving their room.

 

"Hey Jamie?" he knocks on the door. "You're up for a movie?" he asks, but the one opening the door is Aaron, who looks relived to see him.

"I'm so lucky you're here," He tells him, "James is sick. I have a study meeting with Theo and angelica, but I couldn’t leave him here alone. Can you take care of him?" 

"Of course." Thomas says, his whole being already radiating concern. "One second." He tells Aaron, turning back to his room. 

He pokes his head through the door. "James is sick. You can still go with Laf and Hercules. Okay bye." And without letting Alex the chance to replay, he runs away.

 

"Good luck studying!" he says, sending Aaron on his way, and then turning around to face James.

"How bad is it?" he asks.

He and James made a system to level different kinds of pain when they were in high school. If it's not very bad, James would tell him a number from 0 to 9. 10 and up are expressed by a body part. Each part has its own meaning, and it’s a long list, so we won't be getting into this.

James touched his throat. 

"That bad? How did you catch something so fast? You were okay yesterday." He said, closing the door and coming to sit by James's bed. "Do you want me to make you tea?" Thomas asks. 

"Your tea sucks," James manages to crock out. 

"You always have such an attitude when you're sick," pouts Thomas. James sticks out a tongue, but starts coughing immediately afterwards. "Did you take a pill?" Thomas asks. James shakes his head. "Do you want one?" he asks. 

"Later," James replies after the coughing had stopped. 

"Okay." 

Thomas puts his hand on James's forehead. It's fuming. James places his hand on top of Thomas's. "Keep it there. It feels nice." He tells him. Thomas blushes slightly.

"Do you want anything?" Thomas says after a while of silence, his hand still held under James's. James is silent. Thomas realizes that he fell asleep. 

"Alright, then." He says, carefully lying down next to James, making sure not to wake him up.

He grabs their book and starts reading from when he and James last stopped, finding it harder and harder to focus until he gives out to the comforting heat of blankets and another human being, (although he was a little hotter than humans normally are) and falls asleep.

~~~

"I can't believe they ditched us!" said Hercules, repeating the message from Alex to Lafayette.

Lafayette frowned. "He didn’t write a reason? I'm sure they have an explanation for that," they said, looking up from their own phone. Hercules shook his head. 

"No. I guess it's just us then… going alone to that movie… that started off as Alex and john's date…" he started coughing, his face reddening. "I'll… go buy us some popcorn. Replace the cheap rom-com tickets for that new Disney movie, will you?" he asks, stepping away. 

When they finally got their tickets, Hercules was already waiting for them with a large popcorn bucket and two cups.

Lafayette took one of the cups and led them to the right theatre. 

The theatre was surprisingly empty. Hercules did what every self respecting human would do in an empty theatre, and kicked off his shoes.

“uhh,” said Lafayette, but Hercules looks so comfy they cant bring themselves to say something else. 

“you should try. No now can judge you,” Hercules shrugs, taking out his phone and scrolled on his twitter account until the lights went down. 

Lafayette follows his lead, although a bit hesitantly. It does makes the theatre less of an official place- which Lafayette finds extremely relaxing- but most importantly? It doesn’t feel as much of a date anymore. 

Well, that until the commercials end, and Lafayette suddenly shudders from the cold.

“you cold?” Hercules asks. When Lafayette turns to look at him, they realise Hercules is staring at them. They wonder how long he was doing that as their ears start to burn.

“well… yes, a little bit,” they say, rubbing their hands against their arms in hope of creating some warmth.

“here,” Hercules says, taking off his sweatshirt. the lights turn off at that moment, something Lafayette is endlessly grateful for. 

“oh…” they take in and put it on, very pointedly not looking at Hercules. “thank you,” they add as the warmth settles upon them.

It takes them a few minutes into the movie to cal, down, but after that, it was easy to just eat popcorn and sip from their drink, make fun of stupid characters, and not think about how adorable Hercules is when he's crying because he got way into the story.

~~~

Thomas woke up to the sound of his phone ringing. It was a very loud, curse-full song, which happened to be the ringtone he gave Alex, so he planned on letting it go to voicemail. James, next to him, started Grambling and moving, though, so Thomas decided to just hang up.

'Answer, you ass.' Came a message shortly after.

'Ur waking jamie up' he texted back.

'~Jamie~' Hamilton sent back. Thomas could imagine his shit eating grin.

'Wat do u need.' He sat up on the bed. James stole some more blankets to himself, murmuring something about Thomas and 'too loud'.

He got a text from Hamilton saying 'Meet u in the kitchen in 5' before getting out of the bad, checking James's forehead again, writing on a note where he is, (in case he wakes up.) and heading to the shared kitchen.

 

Thomas was very well known for his cooking.

That is to say, everyone knew he was Absolute shit at it. He couldn't make food to save his life.

He was just looking around to find a pot to make soup in when Alex got into the room.

"Ah, there you are. Hey, does your boyfriend know how to-" he turned around to look at Alex, only to find him standing there, with a bleeding nose and a soon-to-be black eye. "You look worse than the garbage pile that is forming in our room. Weren't you going to see a movie? How the flying fuck did you managed to get beat in a movie theater?" He turned back around to scan the shelves, like he is more interested in making food then in Alex's story. Alex pulled out a cup and put water in a kettle. Thomas pulled out two more, in hope Alex is better at making tea then he   
is.  
"We were supposed to, yes. Laf and Herc are watching it." He pulls the sugar and tea bags out casually, but it is clear how tense he is. "Me and john were about to get in when we found out Charles lee-" his whole face scrunched up, his eyes burning with internal hatred. Thomas found it surprising that there is someone Alex hates more than him. "-Works at the theater. That fucker. He started saying shit about my dad. John punched him. I think he broke his arm." He said, sounding proud.

"And you look like that because you tried to separate them, right? Please tell me I'm right." Thomas watched as Alex made the tea violently. He wasn't aware the process of tea making could be done so aggressively.

(James makes tea really gently. And puts a lot of emotion into it. Not the same emotion as Alex, though. A nicer emotion.)

"I told john to break his jaw. Then that shithead, Seabury, tried to break us off. Charles got to me before Seabury pulled him away." He pointed to his eye, which was about to become a black eye in no time at all. He then gave Thomas two of the cups to hold, and pulled some ice from the freezer. He held it to his eye as they both went up the stairs, making sure they aren't spilling any tea.  
"John is in even worse shape than me though," Alex said as they stood in Front of their dorm. 

Inside, on Alex's bed, sat john. His eye black, his lip split. He smiled brightly as they entered, and then winced.

"Alex!" He exclaimed, making a grabby motion as Alex handed him the ice. 

"Don't know if tea is a good idea for you, actually," Alex frowned, staring at johns split lip.

"I… kind of left James sick alone in his room so... I'll be going..." he said, turning to leave, only to turn back around."Do any of you know how to make soup?" he asks, hopeful. 

Alex shakes his head but john nods. "Yeah ill just…" he tried getting up only to be laid back again by Alex. 

"You are not going anywhere. You punched Charles lee for me, and I love you very much, so I'm going to heal you- with ice. And tea. And love." Alex said lovingly, sitting down on the bed and affectionally rubbing his nose against john's. 

"You disgust me." Thomas scowled before leaving the room, leaving the door open.

When he gets to James's room, he is lucky to find James awake, since he wouldn’t be able to open the door by himself.

Not that it would stop him from lecturing.

"What are you doing out of bed? Back in the covers! Come on!" he said as soon as James opened the door. James rolled his eyes as he grabbed one of the tea cups. 

"I told you I don’t want your tea." James grumbles as Thomas closed the door. He sits down on the bed, and Thomas follows his lead.

"Hamilton made it. It's full of very strong emotions. You'll heal in no time." Thomas promised, taking a sip from his tea, which was a surprisingly good tea. 

James thought so too, probably, because he asked, "Was it made with love?" with a raised eyebrow. 

"… no. I think it was more like burning hatred." Thomas takes another sip. "But it's good, isn’t it?" 

(James made all his tea with love. Might be because he was just a person that had a lot of love to give out. That's why Thomas liked James's tea so much, anyway. He thought that as he drank his tea, making sure not to look at James as he does.)

"Can you… read me some more of the book?" asked James after they finished their tea. Thomas looked at him, surprised. 

It was usually James reading to Thomas, and not the other way around, but now, when Thomas thinks about it, Thomas was always the one asking James to read for him. They didn’t have any spoken rule, or anything, James just… never asked before.

"Yeah, sure," says Thomas, grabbing the book and perching his back to the wall. James, covered with a blanket, follows to his usual place between his legs. Thomas opens the book, lays his head on top of James's, and starts reading from where they last stopped together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments. are welcomed. pls.

**Author's Note:**

> gonna edit my whole life asap and this wont be an exception. give me some time.


End file.
